


Movie Night

by MyChemicalPanic



Category: All Time Low, Bandom
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyChemicalPanic/pseuds/MyChemicalPanic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Movie Night at Alex's house, but Jack's sick and of course he has to spread it to the rest of the band.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so this is my first time posting an atl fic so I have no idea how this is going to go... I promise it's better than the title and description. Also I haven't edited yet so I have no idea how many mistakes there are

All Time Low group message - 1pm  
Alex: guys lets have a movie night  
Rian: yes I'm totally up for that  
Zack: final moments of freedom before Lisa and Cassadee come home tomorrow?  
Alex: bro's night!!!!  
Rian: what can I say somehow I'm missing you guys even 2 weeks after tour  
Zack: you two are ridiculous  
Zack: I guess I'm not totally sick of you idiots what the hell I'm in  
Alex: great my place at 6  
Zack: I'll bring pizza  
Rian: I'll bring beer  
Rian: Jack?  
Alex: yo Jack come on wakey wakey

Jack was woken up by the sound of his phone repeatedly buzzing on the coffee table next to his already cold coffee. He had gotten up in the morning feeling shaky and dizzy, and after laboring through making coffee in an attempt to wake himself up, he immediately crashed on the couch, TV playing the Simpsons. Groaning, Jack reached for his phone, and then the throw on the back of the couch to pull over his shaking form. After reading through his bandmates conversation, he replied.

Jack: idk guys not feeling so well  
Alex: you're hungover get over it  
Zack: come on Jack just put some sunglasses on

A minute or two passed without Jack replying as he was to busy coughing up his lungs to respond. He changed positions to lay on his side on the couch, throw pulled over like a blanket, before grabbing his phone from where it had dropped on the floor.

Zack: Jack?  
Rian: as much as it pains me to say it, we can watch home alone  
Alex: ri why are you encouraging him!  
But if it'll make you come then fine Jack  
Zack: if we're doing this it should be all of us

Jack smiled, seeing his bandmates attempts to get him to come. Home alone with his best friends did sound fun, despite feeling like shit.

Jack: fine u guys convinced me  
Or really home alone convinced me  
Rian: I knew it would  
Alex: YES  
Zack: awesome. See you guys later

As a chill wracked his body, Jack let his phone slip out of his hand again, wincing at the loud sound it made as it hit the floor. Jack knew he had to go now, everyone was expecting him. He didn't want to, but he knew he needed to get up if he was going to get to Alex's by 5. None of his friends believed he was actually sick, and Jack didn't want to disappoint them, so he needed to take a shower and take some meds so he looked more human. But a nap was more enticing, so he picked up his phone and set an alarm to go off in an hour before curling into a ball under the throw and drifting off to sleep.

He thought he would be feeling better by the time he napped and took a shower, but by the time Jack got in his car, he was feeling even worse. It was 80 degrees out, but Jack was wearing a thick hoodie to combat the chills. In all honesty, he wasn't even sure he was going to be able to drive, he was feeling so crappy. Sighing, Jack put on his sunglasses and got ready to brave the highway while praying he wouldn't crash.

"Hey!" Jack called as he pushed open the door to Alex's house.

"In the living room!" Alex called back, completely used to Jack barging in. Knowing his friends were coming over, he had left the door open.

"Watcha doin?" Jack asked, leaning against the doorframe. Alex was on the floor, going through a box Jack couldn't see, as Alex's back was facing Jack.

"Going through movies," Alex turned around and saw Jacks hoodie and sweats combo. "Whoa what are you wearing?"

"Clothes. I figure if I'm going to be here all night in going to be comfy,"

"Ok.. I guess? Well you're early. Batman?" Alex held up the dark night dvd. " I bet Rian and Zack will still be a bit"

"Aren't you so proud of me? I'm actually early for once"

"More surprised, you're always late, and especially hungover"

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Bound to happen sometime," the truth was he knew that if he hadn't left when he did, he probably wouldn't have left at all.  
Alex had already sat down on the couch, title screen to batman already up, despite not hearing Jack's confirmation of movie choice. Taking a spot next to Alex, Jack laid his head on his best friend's shoulder, letting the explosions of the movie kill him to sleep.

Looking down at his friend's sleeping form, Alex smiled to himself, pulling out his phone to go check Twitter. He was used to Jack and his limpet-like tendencies, so he wasn't concerned that Jack had fallen asleep 5 minutes into the movie. Most likely Jack was just hungover.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alex!" Rian called out as he walked into the house an hour later. 

"In here," Alex replied, unable to get up because Jack was still sleeping on him. 

Alex heard the thud of beer hitting the kitchen counter, then Rian's footsteps as he made his way over to the living room. 

"Zack texted me, he said he's picking up the pizza. He'll be here in like 15 minutes." Rian made his way into the living room, and paused when he saw Jack fast asleep on Alex's shoulder. Alex waved with his free hand in response to Rian's questioning look. 

"Hungover," he explained. 

"This late? Even for Jack it's a little strange."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, but he seems to be ok. He is kind of hurting my shoulder though." Alex shifted so that he was lying back diagonally on the arm of the couch with Jack splayed out across his chest. 

"And that's more comofortable?" Rian questioned, raising an eyebrow. 

Alex shrugged. "A little. Besides, he'll wake up as soon as he smells pizza." 

"True," Rian replied, snorting at the thought of Jack's innate ability to tell when food, especially pizza, was nearby. "How far into Batman are we?" He asked, changing the focus from the sleeping rockstar on the couch.

"An hour, I think? I can start it over, I haven't really been paying attention."

"Nah, it's fine. We've seen this almost as much as Home Alone." Since all the space on the couch was being taken up by Jack and Alex, Rian settled down in the armchair, legs over the armrest and back resting in the corner between the back and other arm of the chair. 

Zack walked in fiftwen minutes later with two large pizzas from their favorite local Italian restaurant. As soon as he stopped in the doorway of the living room, Alex and Rian looked up. No words were needed when everyone could smell the pizza.

"I'll get plates," Rian hopped up and jogged to the kitchen.

"Rian, grab me a beer please!" Shouted Alex. He tried to get up but couldn't with Jack on his chest.

Setting the pizza boxes down, Zack came over. At this point nothing fazed him when it came to Jack and Alex, so he didn't even ask why Jack happened to be sleeping on Alex. Bending down, Zack grabbed Jack and held him up a little bit so Alex could slide out from underneath. Jack never stirred as he was set back down.

"You're a lifesaver dude" Alex clapped Zack on the shoulder.

"It's what I do. You can thank me by letting me pick the next movie."

"Have at it. At least it'll keep Jack from complaining, if he ever decides to wake up that is."

"I'm surprised he hasn't woken up already with pizza in the room," Zack shot a concerned glance towards Jack. It didn't seem like just a hangover the more he looked  at the younger boy.

"He'll perk up. Watch this," Rian came back into the room, snagging a piece of pizza before heading over to wave it in Jack's face. Other than a soft snore, the guitarist didn't stir.

Alex laughed. "Nice trick, Ri. Would've been nicer if it worked." 

Rian shrugged, mouth full of pizza. He swallowed before talking. "There are exceptions to every rule." He settled back into his spot on the armchair after grabbing amother slice of pizza and a beer.

Following suit, Alex took the other chair, beer and pizza in hand. Zack splayed out on the floor after dimming the lights in the room. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit choppy with the chapters i don't have a computer right now so this is easier.

Jack woke up towards the very end of Batman. He wasn't really awake, per se, but he was drifting in and out of concousness, catching bits and pieces of his friends commentaries on the movie. Not wanting to wake up and face the reality that he was so sick he was barely coherent, he kept his eyes either closed or half lidded, not quite asleep but never fully waking up. 

As the credits started rolling on the movie, Alex stood up and stretched. He looked over at Jack, saying "Is Barakat still out?"

"Think so. Hold on, let me check." Zack rolled over to face the couch. "Yup, dead to the world. Does something about this seem off to you?" Zack turned back around to face Rian and Alex. "Even for Jack this seems excessive."

Frowning, Rian replied, "it does feel a little bit odd. Maybe we should wake him up to see if he's ok?"

Nodding in approval, Alex added, "yeah. He's been asleep since before you guys got her, maybe..." He checked his watch, "4 hours? Ish?" 

Zack turned back to Jack, shaking his shoulder gently. Groaning, Jack rolled over to push his face into jack's stomach.

"Whaaaat," his words were muffled by Zack's shirt. The others all looked at each other, glad Jack seemed to be ok. 

"You okay, Jack?" Alex asked.

Sitting up slowly, using his arm on the couch for support, Jack waved Alex off. "yup, I'm..." Jack didn't get to finish, as he raced off the couch to the bathroom with surprising speed given how dizzy he was.

"Shit," was all Rian said as he, Alex and Zack jogged off after their guitarist. 

"My thoughts exactly," Zack replied, leaning against the wall adjacent to the bathroom door. 

Knocking softly against the closed bathroom door, Alex called, " Jack? Can I come in?" He shot a concerned glance at Rian and Zack when silnce was his reply. He knocked again, "Jack, I'm coming in, ok?" For once Alex was too concerned to make some sort of dick joke. Sure, Jack got sick, but never like this. Usually when Jack was sick he was loud and complained all the time, he never tried to hide it. 

Thankfully, the door wasn't locked, so Alex was able to head straight in. What greeted him was a pitiful Jack sitting on the floor in front of the toilet, arm resting on the rim. His entire body was shaking like a leaf, and sweat coated his skunk-like hair, sticking it all to his face and neck. 

Dropping to his knees beside his best friend, Alex put one hand on Jack's back, beginning to rub in slow wide circles, while the other hand went to his forehead, pushing the sweat slicked hair to the side while also checking his temperature. Jack didn't respond the entire time, he just sat there like a rag doll, taking long ragged breaths to try and calm his body down. 

Looking at Rian and Zack, panic evident in his eyes, Alex said, "he's burning up,"

Zack started to search through the cabinets for a thermometer and some medicine, while Rian ran a washcloth under cold water before handing it to Alex to place on Jack's neck. Then Rian kneeled next to Jack and got some toilet paper to wipe his mouth with before throwing it into the toilet and flushing, before getting up and walking out of the bathroom, presumably to get water.

"Found it," said Zack, holding up the thermometer. He went to place it in Jack's ear, but Jack choose that moment to whimper softly. 

"Jack, hey, what's wrong?" Alex asked.

"Stomach," he replied in a gravely voice, "feel like..." He leaned over the toilet and threw up again, body shaking with the force of his muscles contracting to expel everything in his stomach. Alex held Jack's hair out of his face, murmuring quietly to reassure him. 

This continued for a few minutes on and off, with  Alex and Zack eventually switchung positions as Jack was getting to weak to even hold his head up, while Rian went into the kitchen to see if he full get something for Jack to try and drink.

The vomiting finally seemed to subside a few minutes later, mostly because there was nothing left in Jack's stomach. Jack, exhuasted, collapsed back into Zack's arms, shaking and breathing heavily, head lolling to rest on Zack's arm.

"How did he get this bad so fast?" Alex wondered out loud.

"I guess he just tried to push through it. He's usually such a baby when he's sick, but that's on tour when we're around to cater to his every whim. When we're at home he tries to push through it, stuff to do, people to see," Zack shrugged. 

"Guys?" Rian poked his head in the doorway. "I'm going out to cvs to get some supplies."

Alex looked up, confused.

Rian continued, "I just got off the phone with Jack's mom. She said there's a bug going around. It's not too bad but we just have to make sure Jack doesn't get dehydrated. It's only like a 24 hour thing but it hits hard and fast"

"That's what she said," Alex said, immature 5 year old that he was.

Rian and Zack rolled their eyes, completely used to all of Alex and Jack's humor.

"Wait why are you going out?" Alex asked, going back to the original point.

"Gatorade, soup, sick people stuff. You don't have that much, and by this point I think we've all caught whatever Jack has so might as well prepare for it."

They all looked to Jack, who was listlessly staring at the floor, body supported by Zack. It was unnerving for the rest of the band to see their most energetic member be so still for so long.

"He's right. Fuck, I really hope I don't get this, I was going to go up to New York tomorrow." Alex responded.

"Well, I would start canceling your plans. I'll be back in like half an hour, make sure you get Jack to drink something." Zack and Alex watched Rian walk away before turning their attention to Jack.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally got to a computer, and got the chance to edit some stuff, especially the end of chapter 3 which I wasn't really happy with. I think it feels more realistic and in character now, hopefully!

Alex and Zack had tried to get Jack to drink something but he had refused every time, shaking his head in an almost indistinguishable nod, so they just sat on the bathroom floor, asking every few minutes for almost fifteen minutes, until Jack stirred and actually talked for the first time.

""Lex," he whined, shifting over from Zack to cling on to Alex.

Scooting over closer to Jack, Alex opened his arms for the younger boy to lean into. Now free of his charge, Zack stood up to rummage through the medicine cabinet, pulling out the tylenol. After finding it, he grabbed the forgotten thermometer from the counter top before getting a washcloth to run under cool water and wring out. With those items in hand, plus the bottle of water Rian left, he kneeled back down in front of the mess of tangled limbs that was Jack and Alex. When he put the washcloth on the back of Jack's neck, Jack shivered and pushed his face farther into Alex's chest, muttering a soft, "go away" as he did so. Zack huffed and shook Jack's shoulder, trying to get him to turn back around.

"What do you want?" The tired boy asked, muffled by Alex's shirt.

"Temp," Zack replied, "and meds if you think you can keep them down."

"won't,"

"Let's try anyway." Zack took Jack's lack of response as an affirmative response, and he stuck the thermometer into the ear that was't attached to their lead singer. When the thermometer beeped, Zack took it out, ignoring jack's hiss at the loud noise. "102.5," he read out aloud for Alex's benefit. "Meds now?"

There was no answer from Jack, so Zack cracked the seal on the water bottle and shook out 2 pills. As he was about to put the pills into Jack's hand, Jack spoke up.

"Don't think I can. Leave me alone to die."

"Not gonna happen, dude," Alex intejected. "If we end up in the ER later because your fever is high as fuck, your mom will kill us. And then you. And then us again. Not to mention none of us want to get up at 4 am to trudge to the ER to wait for 5 hours. I am not a morning person, so I might just kill you myself. Take the meds."

"Your fault if I puke again," Jack shifted so his face wasn't smushed against Alex's shirt. Zack pushed the pills into Jack's hand and the opened water bottle into the other.

"Small sips or you will puke again," reminded Alex.

With a shaking hand, Jack put the bottle to his lips, taking one sip to swallow the pills before setting the water back down.

 "You're not actually going to drink anything? We've been trying for twenty minutes, I thought this was our breakthrough! Again, dude, ER at 4 am. Not getting dehydrated is also really fucking important." Alex responded, exasperated.

Shaking his head, Jack leaned back into Alex's shirt, but the older boy stopped him.

"Uh uh. No sleeping until you drink at least half that bottle."

Jack looked from Alex to Zack, who looked back at him with unrelenting gazes.

"Don't want to throw up again, it hurts," he replied miserably.

Zack reached out to rub Jack's arm. "I know you don't. But it's going to hurt a lot more if you don't drink anything. We'll sit here all night if we have to."

If anything, Jack was even less convinced. Staying on the cold tiled floor all night sounded even worse than dehydration. Alex noticed Jack's worried gaze.

"Compromise, how about this? We'll sit here for a bit and if you feel ok then we can move to the couch and grab a bucket so you can be a little more comfortable, all right?"

"Fine." Jack took the bottle back from Zack and took a small sip.

 

When Rian got back fifteen minutes later, he was surprised to see half the bottle of water gone. He wasn't expecting Jack to give in that easily, their guitarist could be a stubborn bastard. What concerned him more, though, was that Jack was leaning over the toilet throwing the water up. Zack saw Rian and got up, following Rian to the kitchen, leaving Jack and Alex in the bathroom. 

"Doesn't seem like things are going too well in there," Rian commented, setting the bags down. Zack took one and Rian took the other, putting everything away.

"We were doing ok until like two minutes ago," Zack replied. "He's getting pretty shaken up though. I-" Zack was cut off by Alex shouting for him. Jogging down the hall with Rian, he stopped at the bathroom door and took in the sight. Alex was leaning against the wall, legs in a straddle with Jack in between his legs, laying back against his chest. Looking at Jack was a pitiful sight. The usually bright eyed bushy tailed guitarist was gaunt and sweaty, dark rings under his half lidded eyes and hair flat against his head. The heaving breaths for air were accompanied by little sobs, and tear tracks were visibly running down his cheeks. If Jack had looked back before, he now looked even worse, exhaustion and mental toll catching up to him.

Alex looked at Zack helplessly. "Can you carry him? I think we really need to relocate, we can't sit here forever." Without any words, Zack strode over and picked Jack up like he weighed nothing. Jack's head lolled on to Zack's shoulder, too tired to hold himself up. Ryan had already left to set up the couch, so Alex followed Zack and his bridal-style held friend to the living room.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack was half aware of the hustle and bustle going on around him, complying to requests to drink or have his temperature taken or swallowing medicine. He barely lifted his head and never spoke, only shaking or nodding his head in minute increments when he had to respond. That was, until Alex asked him if he wanted to watch Home Alone.

"Nah." Jacks voice was rough and quiet from throwing up earlier. "You guys can watch whatever, I'm gonna sleep anyway." At this statement all three of his friends looked up in alarm. Though he had just taken Jack's temperature five minutes earlier, Alex felt his friend's forehead to see if Jack was hallucinating or something. Rian and Zack looked like they were in shock. After a moment, Alex chose to speak up first.

"What the fuck, dude. Has an alien taken over your body?" Alex then stood up from where he was kneeling in front of Jack and slid in behind him on the couch, pressing his back against the couch and his chest on Jack's back.

"Jack... Are you sure we don't need to take you to the ER or something? You're kind of scaring me." Rian, always the mother hen of the group, was the first to be thinking practically. Closing his eyes, Jack shook his head, pressing his face farther into the couch cushions. Zack was shaking his head in disbelief.

"I don't care if you don't want to watch it, I'm putting it on anyway because this is freaking me out." He took the remote from Rian and pressed play on Jack's favorite movie, turning the volume down so Jack could sleep if he wanted. It didn't look like it was going to matter, though, seeing as Jack looked like he was already asleep. Zack pulled another blanket over Jack and Alex, while Rian placed an extra bottle of water on the table next to the couch. By then Alex was also drifting off, lulled to sleep by being pressed up against a sleeping Jack.

After Jack and Alex fell asleep, Rian and Zack collapsed into the two armchairs opposite the couch. Zack groaned and rubbed his forehead, resting his head against the back of the chair. Rian eyed him suspiciously.

"You ok, man?" Zack opened one eye to glare at Rian.

"I know what you're thinking. Stop it. Just tired."

Holding his hands up in surrender, Rian replied, "whatever, dude. Your funeral. Didn't you go out with Jack a few nights ago?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure he wasn't contagious then." Looking up at Rian, Zack stared down his friend, saying, "i'm not getting sick, Ri. Don't even think about it. After this long looking after the two of them," he gestured to his sleeping friends, "I'm immune to everything."

"Okay, fine. But when you do get sick, remind me to tell you I told you so."

"Dick," Zack mumbled, already drifting off. Hey, looking after Jack was exhausting work!

Rian smirked."You know you love me." Seeing his 3 bandmates asleep or practically asleep, Rian decided to take a nap himself, not knowing how soon he would need to get up again.

When Rian was awoken three hours later, he immediately knew something was off. First he checked on Jack (and therfore Alex as well) just to see them still sleeping soundly. Jack's breathing was still a little irregular, but it wasn't as bad as it was before so Rian left him to sleep. He then looked over to Zack, to find that he wasn't there. Zack's spot was empty, and he wasn't in the room at all. There was also no light coming from the kitchen, so he couldn't be there either. Using his phone as a flashlight so he wouldn't be blinded by turning on all the lights, Rian made his way through the house looking for the bassist. He stopped in front of the bathroom door, the one that currently had light spilling out from under the crack. Rian knocked gently.

"Zack? You in there?"

"Oh my god, I can't even fucking piss in peace! Really, Rian?" Zack's words didn't inspire any confidence in Rian, because his friends voice was forceful, it also sounded strained, like it was painful to talk. Not one to put up with band members martyrdom and bullshit, Rian opened the thankfully unlocked door to find Zack sitting on the floor. He smirked.

"I fucking told you so."

"Yes, thank you for the great words of motivation, Ri. I'm fine though, really."

"You inspire a lot of confidence, sitting there on the floor like that. And..." Rian knelt down to put his wrist against Zack's forehead. "You have a fever." Leaning his head back against the wall, Zack sighed, knowing he was fighting a loosing cause.

"Come on," Rian held his hand out, "up. Let's get you to a real bed. I'm not letting you sleep on the bathroom floor."

"Not sure I can move without puking again," Zack said without moving, ignoring Rian's outstretched hand.

"Okay, I'll wait. How long have you been here?"

"Half an hour, maybe? Wasn't really paying attention."

Rian put his arm around Zack's shoulders, scooting closer to sit next to his friend. He noticed Zack's slightly labored breathing, and how he was putting an arm across his stomach. Before he could say anything, Zack shot up to kneel in front of the toilet, throwing up again. Rian kept his hand on the bassist's back, slowly moving his hand in a circular motion. When he was done, Zack reached up to flush the toilet before leaning back against the wall.

"Fuck," Zack groaned, trying to regain his breath.

"Yeah, that's pretty much how I'd put it. Come on, up. You'll be much happier in bed." Even though Zack was normally much stronger than Rian, Zack didn't have any fight left, and got up willingly, using Rian to support most of his weight. Together, they made it down the hall, where Rian set his friend down on the bed before mumbling something about Gatorade and meds. Zack wasn't paying much attention, already feeling himself lose the battle against sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay finally done with everything and I can start getting on with this!


	6. Chapter 6

Zack had groggy memories of Rian helping him sit up to take some medication and drink something, but beyond that, his memory was useless. Everything around him was hazy and out of focus. The only time things became clearer was when Zack had to cough and his focus was sharpened by the pain in his chest. Overall, getting sick was completely terrible and Zack wanted to kill Jack for letting him get sick in the first place.

As Zack was thinking that last part he heard someone chuckle from above him and he twisted his neck around to see Rian sitting on the bed beside him, back resting against the headboard. Ok, so maybe that last part might've been mumbled instead of thought.

"How're you feeling?" Rian reached over to place the back of his hand to Zack's forehead. "Fever seems better."

Zack hummed in response, flipping over onto his side to face Rian. He groaned at the effort, feeling the full effects of the fatigue and muscle aches from being sick. Clearing his throat, he asked, "shouldn't you be with Jack and Alex? You know me, I can take care of myself. The two of them act like 5 year olds on a good day, much less when one of them is sick."

Smiling, Rian responded, "nah, Lex can handle Jack. I went to check on them a few minutes ago and they, well Alex, was watching Spider-man while Jack was sleeping and drooling on Alex's shirt. As long as Alex keeps Jack hydrates, they'll be fine, and Alex does know enough to do that much."

"But you know Alex is going to get sick too, and then they'll be really fucked." Zack paused to cough again, letting Rian sit him up to get more air into his lungs. When the fit ended, Rian pulled Zack back down so his head was laying on Rian's chest. Reaching over Zack, Rian grabbed the water bottle that was sitting on the nightstand, before uncapping it and giving it to Zack. With a shaky hand, Zack took a few sips before handing it back. He looked up when Rian refused to take the bottle back.

"You know you need to keep drinking." As much as he didn't want to, Zack knew that he did, in fact, need to keep drinking so he wouldn't get dehydrated. Reluctantly he kept sipping at the bottle, stopping when the bottle was mostly empty. This time, when he gave the bottle to Rian, the bottle was taken away without protest. Leaning back against Rian, Zack closed his eyes to try and ward off the dizziness he was experiencing.

Seeing Zack close his eyes, Rian asked, "falling asleep on me already?"

"Nope. Just using you as a pillow."

"Right. So, if you aren't going to sleep, movie?" Grabbing his laptop off of the floor, Rian opened Netflix.

"Maybe later. you can watch one if you want, though." Despite saying he wasn't going to sleep, Zack felt himself slipping unconsciously, already halfway asleep. 

"Ok. How about a nap then?" Rian set the laptop back down and shifted so he was laying level with Zack. 

"Don't you have other things to do?" Zack's words were muffled by Rian's shirt. 

Rian smiled, taking a moment to shift himself so Zack's head was on his chest while wrapping an arm around his friend's still shaking frame. "You can't get rid of me that easily, loser." 

Almost asleep, Zack mumbled, "asshole." He wasn't awake enough to hear Rian's response, but he did feel the rumble of Rian's chest when he laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So these updates have been kind of slow (and this chapter is kind of short)... I'm working on it, but if anyone has ideas for places this story should go, I'm all ears! There's no drawn out plot line for this story yet, I'm just making it up as I go. And also, I was thinking I'd start taking prompts to do outside of this story, I need some other things to write to keep me busy so I can fend off boredom and keep the inspiration going to prevent writers block. I'll do other bands too, not just Atl, so send me sickfic/hc/fluff prompts!


	7. Chapter 7

Back in the living room, Alex was woken by, well, he wasn't sure. The only sound currently playing was the title screen music for home alone, which had ended hours earlier, judging by the clock on the set top box under the TV. About to go back to sleep, Alex closed his eyes, but opened them once again when he heard what had woken him. Jack, still asleep on Alex's chest, had cried out, almost like he was having a nightmare. Alex wasn't sure wether he was supposed to wake Jack up or let him sleep through it, but he made the decision to wake him up once Jack started shaking so much Alex had to hold his arm around him to prevent the guitarist from rolling off the couch. 

"Jack. Jack. Wake up, dude" despite feeling his friend's already shaking frame, Alex pushed on Jack's shoulder to try and wake him. After a few moments, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jack's eyes open, albeit glassy and slightly hazy. Tapping on Jacks side to get his attention, Alex asked, "you okay, man? Looked like you were having a nightmare or something. You still kinda look like shit." Up close, Jack resembled the nearest ghost. His pallid skin was only tinted on his face, with the gaunt circles under his eyes and the rosy spots of the fever on his cheeks. 

"'M good," Jack mumbled, flipping over to lay facing Alex. Exhausted by the effort, he dropped his pounding head onto Alex's chest. Alex, smiling sadly at seeing his friend's misery, started running his fingers through Jack's hair. How he ended up with a best friend who turned into a complete baby panda when he was sick he would never know.

"Okay, well, how about water?" Alex felt the vibration of Jack shaking his head. "You need to drink something. Gatorade?" Jack didn't respond, which Alex took as a yes. "Okay, come on, sit up a bit. I'll help you." Alex pushed up first, while Jack was still splayed out like a limpet on his chest. Putting his arms under Jack's armpits Alex pulled them both up to a seated position. The entire time, Jack was a dead weight, and as soon as they were vertical his head dropped right back on to Alex's shoulder. Alex just laughed. 

"Dude, it's like you have no muscles at all. What are you, a fish or something?"

"Tired." All of Jack's responses seemed to be as short as humanly possible, like it took so much effort to so much as open his mouth.

The cheerful tone of Alex's dropped hearing the pitiful cries of his friend. Jack could be an extreme pain in the ass when he a cold, a complete whiny baby that everyone wanted to kill, but when he really got sick, Jack would just become quiet and clingy, a kind of pitiful sight, a limpet of sorts. For Jack to be like this, this bug really had to be throwing him for a loop, and Alex knew that. 

"I know. You're probably feeling pretty rough right now, huh?" That received a slight nod. Reaching over Jack, Alex grabbed the Gatorade from the side table. He wanted to take Jack's temperature again, and dose him again with meds, but the thermometer and the medicine had mysteriously disappeared. Pausing for a moment before remembering that Rian had taken them, Alex settled for just the Gatorade, which he unscrewed the lid from before trying to hand it to Jack, who was no help at all. Alex had to take Jack's hand and mold it around the bottle so Jack's currently weak grip wouldn't let him drop the bottle. 

Once the younger had finally taken the bottle in his grasp to start taking slow sips, Alex quipped, "as much as I pity you when you're this helpless, it's still kind of pathetic how much of a baby you are."

"You're still stuck with me though," Jack responded, too tired to try and make some snippy backlash that healthy Jack would've been all over. 

"Don't I know it." Alex pushed the bottle away when Jack tried to hand him the now half empty bottle, "Hey, keep drinking. I've done the whole dehydration thing. Not fucking fun. I'm not letting you do it, got that?" 

With a distinct sigh Jack took another few sips before handing it back again. "Stomach hurts," he gave by way of explanation. 

Alex frowned. (He seemed to be doing that a lot over the past few hours.) "How bad does your stomach hurt?"

"Really sore from earlier. I don't think I'm gonna throw up but I don't want to risk it."

"Fair enough. Hey, let's get to a real bed. My neck's sore from sleeping on the couch." Not waiting for a reply from Jack, Alex stood up, reaching down to pull Jack up and put his arm around his shoulders. Alex grabbed the Gatorade, his phone and the blanket that had fallen off the couch before dragging his charge along to his room. 

As they moved slowly down the hallway, Jack peeked in on Rian and Zack, who were visible with the door open. The two had tangled themselves into a ball, bodies entwined into one. 

"Why are Ri and Zack sleeping together? You have 2 guest rooms, they don't need to be sleeping together."

Laughing, Alex shifted his grip on Jack, before continuing down the hall. "Zack's sick, so I think Rian's babysitting him like I'm babysitting you."

"Alex, stop messing with my head, I'm already sick. Zack doesn't get sick. He's like, superman with his immune system. And he wouldn't need a babysitter."

Alex dragged his friend into his room before depositing him ungracefully onto the bed. "Well, shit happens. Ri's just being an overprotective mother like always."

That didn't get a response from Jack, because he was already asleep again. Feeling tired himself, Alex pulled the covers over the guitarist before climbing in next to him. Even though he was asleep, Jack somehow managed to roll over right on top of Alex. Alex, not feeling quite ready to sleep yet, maneuvered his arm out from under Jack and grabbed his phone, opening subway surfer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been forever! Sorry it's been so long, I've been away and it took me way too long to decide what to do with this chapter. I was torn between focusing on Rian and Zack or Jack and Alex. I decided on Jack and Alex because that's what you guys seem to like, right? There's mostly jalex on here.


	8. Chapter 8

Apparently Alex had fallen asleep, because he was awoken by a buzzing on his chest. Oh. That explains where his phone went. Picking up the device, he blinked at the too bright light before tapping 'answer'. 

"Lisa?" Voice still rough from sleeping, Alex cleared his throat, "what's up?"

"Alex!" Lisa sounded annoyed. That was never a good sign. "You were supposed to pick us up from the airport! Cass and I are driving back now, you better have a good explanation." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Cass says she knows Rian's there, and tell him to expect hell from her. How can we go to New York if you can't even pick me up? Seriously, I expected better from–what was that? Is Jack with you?" The noise Lisa had heard, was in fact Jack, who had stirred, reaching out to paw at Alex's arm. 

"Yeah, it was. We're all here. Lisa, I'm sorry I forgot to pick you up, but you probably don't want to come back here. You should probably go stay at Rian's with Cass. We're–" cut off by Jack jumping off the bed to dash to the bathroom, Alex got up to follow him, grabbing a bottle of water from the nightstand on the way. He didn't head into the bathroom, instead choosing to finish his call outside the door. "Look, Jack and Zack are sick, which means we're all contagious. It's probably better for everyone if we all quarantine ourselves. Maybe you and Cass could go up to New York together? I know you just got back from a wedding, but you could have a girls weekend?"

Lisa sighed. "Alex... I'm not really happy about this, but if you're already contagious then there's not much point in me whining about it. We can talk later." She hung up, and Alex put the phone in his pocket before heading after Jack. 

If anything, Jack looked worse that last night, if that was possible. Despite his tall frame, Jack had managed to curl himself into a tiny ball on the bath mat. His skunk striped hair was stuck to his face with sweat, and his skin was ashen bar the cheeks tinted with the obvious fever. Every few seconds, Jack's body would tremble, a response to the fever. 

"Jay?" Kneeling down by his friend, Alex swept the fringe out of Jack's face to feel his forehead, which was burning up. Alex knew he had to something about the fever, but his first priority was getting Jack to get up. Sitting down fully, Alex pulled Jack into his lap, rubbing his back to try and comfort him. "You wanna go back to bed?" Jack shook his head. Pushing himself up off of Alex he leaned over to throw up again, but he just ended up dry heaving as he hadn't had anything to drink in the past few hours, and he hadn't eaten in even longer. When Jack had finished, Alex placed his arms under Jack's armpits to lift (or more acturatly, drag) the guitarist back to bed. Jack provided no help whatsoever, he was a dead weight on Alex's shoulder. Normally, this would be Zack's job, but since he was out of commission, Akex had to do the best he could. Not that Jack would notice anyway. He was so out of it he barely noticed when Alex dropped him back onto the bed. 

"Jack, I'll be back in a minute, ok?" Despite Jacks limp body, Alex handed the younger a bottle of water, telling him to drink it as he left the room. As Alex left the room he looked back at Jack, who was laying in the same spot Alex left him in, arm that gripped the water bottle hanging off the bed like it was a burden to hold. 

Walking the two doors down to the room where Rian and Zack were, he knocked softly on the doorframe, getting Rian's attention. Zack was still sleeping on top of Rian, effectively pinning the drummer to the bed. 

"You okay?" Always the mother hen of the band, Rian was looking out for everyone. 

"Yeah, but Jack's not. Do you have the thermometer?" As Rian started to try and get up to help, Alex held his hand up. "I got this, Ri. Just tell me where."

Settling back into the pillows, Rian pointed to the dresser. "Thermometer, Tylenol, and some other stuff. How bad's Jack?"

Alex winced. "Remember Australia?" Rian nodded. "If he doesn't start drinking it's gonna turn into that. I don't even know how he got this bad, Zack doesn't look too bad."

"Jack has been running around like crazy and partying every night. He probably was feeling bad earlier in the week but got worse and ignored it. Zack just got sick and has been resting. Makes sense to me."

"Yeah. I'll try and drug him up and we'll see how he is in a bit. I'll be back." Alex started to head back to Jack before Rian stopped him.

"Do you know why I have 5 missed calls from Cass and 3 from Lisa?" 

"Uh... I think we're in the doghouse right now." Rian looked at Alex, confused. 

"What? Oh... Shit. I totally forgot." 

"Yeah, I wouldn't call her back unless you want to be chewed out."

Rian was too busy staring at his phone to respond, so Alex took that as his cue to leave. When he got to his room, Jack was still the spot Alex left him, bar the bottle of water, which was now half empty. It was actually quite impressive, Jack had improved in the few minutes Alex had been out of the room just because he wasn't curled up on the bathroom floor and constantly heaving, unable to keep anything down.

Not asleep yet, Jack's eyes tracked Alex as he made his way over. 

"Whatcha doin?" He asked sleepily, half lidded eyes catching Alex's own. In response, Alex held out the thermometer as he knelt down next to Jacks side of eg bed. 

"Nooooo," Jack whined, turning his head into the pillow, "'m not that bad. Go 'way."

"God, you're a bitchy princess when you're sick. Sorry bud, we've got to due this. And you're way overdue for meds."

"I had water," Jack turned his head back to Alex so his words weren't muffled by the pillow, "I feel better."

Alex snorted. "I'm impressed, but you still look like shit. Not to mention you've been puking since last night, and you've had maybe 1 bottle of water total."

After Alex's last statement, Jack was a little more receptive, though still grumbling, he let Alex slip the thermometer into his mouth. When the thermometer beeped, Jack flipped onto his other side, back to Alex. 

"102.6. Jeez, how are you coherent? When I left you 2 minutes ago you were a fuckin dead body." Jack said something in response, but he was facing the other way so Alex didn't hear it. Knowing Jack wasn't going to turn back, he grabbed a few things before hopping over Jack to sit on the bed opposite the guitarist. Opening the Tylenol, he shook out 2 pills before handing them to Jack, who shook his head. 

"Come on, Jay. Don't be a baby." Tugging on his shoulder, Alex pulled Jack to sit up leaning on Alex's chest, then once again handing him the pills and Gatorade to try and rehydrate him a little more. Knowing he was fighting a loosing battle, Jack downed the pills in one gulp. Before he could even think about protesting, Alex reminded Jack, "drink the whole thing." He got a look for that one, but Jack didn't say anything, instead taking another sip. 

"I wanna watch a movie." Since Jack's current symptoms were due to dehydration more so than the actual virus, the little bit of water that had actually managed to stay in Jack's stomach was helping improve his condition. Not feeling like puking was half the battle won. 

"Are you going to fall asleep on me?" Alex asked, skeptical. Jack shook his head, so Alex wrestled free of Jack to go turn on the tv and grab the remote. When he got back in bed, Jack latched on to him again. "What do you want to watch? And please don't say home alone."

"Home alone 2?" When his answer was received with a stony glare, he changed his answer, "uh... Dark Knight?" Alex beamed.  
"Thank you for being sensible." Having seen the movie many times, Alex owned it, so he just scrolled though his movies to find it, before pressing play, settling in on his side of the bed. Jack was on the other, curled into a little ball with his head barely sticking out from under the covers. 

An hour into the movie and while Jack was still awake, Alex had fallen asleep, mouth slightly open, snoring softly. Jack, despite being exhuastrd, couldn't sleep because of the shivers constantly wracking his body. He didn't feel sick to his stomach as much, but the fever hadn't gone down, and he was still miserable. Scooting over, he curled up alongside Alex, who, even while sleeping, sensed his friend's presence, slipped an arm around Jack's back. It was a reminder of the ease between the two, habits formed from years of being together, that it was second nature. Jack was still feeling shitty, but it had progressed to a general achyness rather than feeling like he was constantly going to throw up. Hoping Alex's body heat would help the chills, he tried to focus on the plot of the movie. Even being exhausted, it was still hard to sleep when that's what he'd been doing the majority of the last 24 hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's sick Alex and more Zack and Rian in the next chapter I just needed this one to close some loops from earlier in the story. And also I don't hate Lisa or Cass but I need to get them out of the way so the guys can be together to try and keep it somewhat realistic.

**Author's Note:**

> More chapters coming, probably even later tonight if I can


End file.
